MY MISSION BLOG

I have created this blog to help people follow me on my journey to serve and teach the people of the Brazil, Teresina Mission, which consists of areas all over north eastern Brazil. I am serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a period of 18 months and will be speaking Portuguese. I love you all and hope to hear from you throughout this life-changing experience!

Monday, June 19, 2017

His Love Is Boundless

Hello Family & Friends!

First things first, Happy Father’s Day to the best man I know. This week is so special because my dad was baptized this week 32 years ago; and this week last year, I opened my call to serve a mission here in Teresina! Let’s all remember that it was two sister missionaries that taught my dad :). In recent years my dad constantly talked to me about my potential, and more specifically about my potential as a future missionary. I will always remember him telling me that, if I only redirected my annoying stubbornness and persistence, I could do and get whatever I wanted in life. I can finally say that yesterday, Father’s Day 2017, I think I finally did what you have been asking for years. One of our investigators who promised us over and over that he would be in church, didn’t show up for the first two meetings of class (we have sacrament meeting the last hour). We told him that if he didn’t show up we would come and get him, haha. So we were deciding whether to ask some members if they could pick him up, but then something told us that we needed to go over there. So we left church, and my companion and I got to the outside of his apartment and were knocking on the garage. No one was getting the door, and I looked at my companion and said, "if I wasn’t in this skirt I would totally climb this garage to let us in”. I was kidding, but only half kidding, waiting for her reaction. She looked at me, then we looked at the deserted road. Within seconds, my church shoes were OFF and my skirt hiked way up, and I climbed that wall! It was not a short wall. I had flashbacks to many summer nights sneaking into the neighborhood pools with my friends. Who knew that was preparing me for my mission, haha?! We got to his apartment, knocked on his door, and waited for him to take a shower and brought that lost soul to church and set a baptism date! BOOM baby! Too many times on my mission I think that I need to be more formal or professional and not do things like this, but I just can’t help myself! Too many times I think that angels, or even Jesus, is watching me and just shaking His head in embarrassment, thinking “not again, she’s representing ME?” All I know is that these people in Teresina will never be able to say in judgment that I didn’t try to help them. I will just say, "please roll the tape”, haha. I am not the best missionary, I still have the worst American accent, and I could be much more proper … but I am trying and giving my absolute all to love these people, and to help them feel the love their Heavenly Father has for them.

We are now working in a trio because there was an emergency transfer. It wasn’t my favorite situation at first, but now I am loving it. We had a zone conference this week, and I had an interview with my mission president. It was one of my favorite interviews with him. I am so grateful for worthy men who hold the priesthood. Here in the mission, I have gained such a stronger testimony of the power of the priesthood. That is why I am so thankful for my dad and for all that he has done for me. The power of God is here on the earth, and it is here to bless the lives of so many. I love my mission and the people here, and I love all of you!